Reviewer's Bias*
Loves: The C.S.I. franchise
Likes: "C.S.I. Miami," David Caruso, Emily Procter, Khandi Alexander
Dislikes: Repetition in the franchise
Hates: Florida.

The Story So Far... Starring former "NYPD Blue" lead David Caruso, "C.S.I.: Miami" was the first spin-off of the ultra-successful forensics drama series, taking the formula to the brighter world of Florida, with a whole new team of investigators to keep criminals in check and follow the evidence. The series is currently in its sixth season, and Paramount has released five seasons of the show on DVD to date, with the first set released in June of 2004, followed by a second in January of 2005. DVDTalk has reviews of the first four seasons: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4

The Show
The fourth season of "CSI: Miami" ended on a down note, as Marisol, sister to Delko (Adam Rodriguez) and newly-minted wife to Caine (Caruso), was struck down by a bullet, which put the two investigators on a revenge mission to Brazil. That allowed the show to start the fifth season traveling to a foreign country (a CSI first) and let Caine and Delko finally fight back for once without worrying too much about the law. It's the start to a season that puts much of the team through the wringer, but none more so than Delko, Wolfe (Jonathan Togo) and Boa Vista (Eva La Rue.)

Once Delko settles things with his sister's murderer, he ends up even worse off, first getting hit with a lawsuit for being a good samaritan, then getting caught in a trap meant for Caine and ends up taking tremendous trauma that threatens his life, and at the least will affect his memory and ability to do his job. Wolfe's job is also on the line, several times, but in his case, it's his own fault, as his issues with gambling, which crop up in "Death Pool 100," affect everything. Wolfe is an incredibly unlucky man and a hot head as well, but he way it's handled in the final three episodes stretches the boundries of realities, but it all fits in to the pattern of abuse the CSI teams seem to bring upon themselves.

Such is the case with Boa Vista, whose screw-ups are legendary this season, indirectly costing one person their life, and putting a bullseye on her own back. After dealing with her sister being kidnapped, Her awful relationship with abusive ex Nick rears its head again, as he gets a job cleaning up crime scenes, which gets his close to former wife. It also gets him close to lab tech Valera, who makes the Lifetime Channel Made for TV movie-worthy decision to date him. In the end, his untimely demise puts an uncomfortable spotlight on the lab, and points the finger directly at Boa Vista, making her this year's supposedly renegade CSI. Considering how often this seems to happen, you'd think the lab would keep a good attorney on retainer.

The big theme this season in South Florida, outside the usual torture meted out to the CSIs, is an attempt to tie up some loose ends. Of course, the season opening episode took care of the Marisol storyline, but it also reintroduced a former member of the team who returns again later in the season to change things around for one of the team. A burgeoning relationship between Duquesne (Emily Procter) and Detective Berkely gets screentime as well, but it's a connection of a non-romantic type that resumes in one of the biggest storylines in this set. Ever since Clavo Cruz first threw his diplomatic immunity in Caine's face after killing a girl several seasons ago, it was obvious their rivalry wouldn't end easily, a fact confirmed this season, when Cruz escapes custody. The break-out and chase spread over two episodes, including one of the season's best, "No Man's Land," and established the battle between the two men as one of the show's defining conflicts.

The majority of the show's cases involve the rich and privledged, and the better episodes are no different, like "If Looks Could Kill" and "Darkroom," both of which focus on models, or "High Octane" and "A Grizzly Murder," which are about the hobbies of those with some money. But the best episodes are down and dirty exercises in action and brains, like the aforementioned "No Man's Land," and the excellent "Going Under." Meanwhile one of the season's most tense and engaging episodes, "Throwing Heat," doesn't even headline the main team, as Frank (Rex Linn) finds himself in mortal danger after stepping on a landmine. As the series goes on, to avoid stagnating, there's going to have to be an attempt to work the supporting cast further into the spotlight, and try to not kill the main players. After all, it's been done a few times.

The DVDs
After four season releases in the acetate tray-stack format, "Miami" is now following in the footsteps of its New York brother, and coming out in the far-sturdier book format, with a hard, foil-embossed cardboard slipcase. The fourth season's 24 episodes arrive on six DVDs, with the special features spread throughout the set, unlike previous sets, where the bonus material was saved for a final DVD. The discs have animated anamorphic widescreen main menus, carrying the same design as the previous set, with episode selections and language set-ups. Audio is available in English 5.1 and Spanish 2.0, with closed captioning, but there are no subtitles.

The Quality
No complaints when it comes to the anamorphic widescreen transfers on these episodes, as they are just about flawless in presenting the show's stylish visuals. "C.S.I.: Miami" is loaded with gorgeous color and incredible vistas, and these discs make it all look very good, with vivid hues, a very high level of detail and no noticeable digital artifacting, to go along with an utter absence of dirt and damage. I don't know whether it's the quality of the production or the the quality of the DVDs, or even a bit of both, but this series is consistently gorgeous on DVD.

The sound is very well-done, with fantastic clarity in the dialogue and great music, which is where the surround speakers get their play, as they serve to enhance the audio and beef it up. There's nothing dynamic about the mix, but occasionally a sting will punch things up a bit.

The Extras
Five audio commentaries (down from Season Six' half-dozen) are included in this set, covering a decent selection of episodes, though once again, there are some questionable choices, like not highlighting the excellent "No Man's Land" or the season finale (I'm of the opinion that season premieres and finales are always worth talking about.) What's not questionable is the participation of actors on four of the five tracks, something of a rarity in the C.S.I. universe, and not just starring cast, as bad guy Clavo Cruz (Gonzalo Menendez) is on board as well. The tracks featuring La Rue and Togo are the best listens, thanks to her personal connection to the story and his enthusiasm, while the chat between Gaviola and Menendez can get a bit slow. All five tracks have a decent amount of info about the episode at hand though.

The breakdown:

• "Rio": director Sam Hill, writer Sunil Nayar and location manager Brian O'Neill
• "Death Pool 100": director Sam Hill, Adam Rodriquez and production designer Carey Meyer
• "Death Eminent": Jonathan Togo, writer Corey Miller and visual f/x supervisor Larry Detwiler
• "Darkroom": Eva La Rue and writer/consultant John Haynes
• "Man Down": director Karen Gaviola and Gonzalo Menendez

Five featurettes make up the remainder of the extras (up from three last time), starting with the almost nine-minute "Rio Grand: 'CSI: Miami' Goes to Rio." Loaded with on-location footage from the Brazilian set of the season opener, and interviews with the main cast and crew, the piece gives a good idea of what went into making the episode. Disc two brings "If Looks Could Kill: Special F/X Makeup," a nearly 14-minute look at the physical effects on the show, which mainly include the gruesome death effects and the "autopsy" moments the franchise is well-known for. It's creepy stuff, but it's fascinating to watch, as makeup head Cheri Montesanto, executive producer Anne Donahue and F/X artist Matt Smith get to talk about the process and show off some of their work.

"Turning up the Heat: The Look of 'CSI: Miami'" spends nine and a half minutes on the visual style of the series, which marks the second featurette to date on the topic. This time the focus is the technical work done on the video, which, for any tech/video geeks, is extremely interesting, especially the color correction demonstration. Part of the overall look though is the costuming, which is highlighted in "Dressing the Part," a six-minute piece on the fifth DVD. Each character's outfits are explored, with an eye on how sexy they are.

The final featurette is "The Real MDPD with Jonathan Togo," which seems to be part of a new initiative to tie the series in to the reality of forensics work (see the third-season "CSI:NY" DVDs for another example.) Togo tours the police facilities in a pretty solid 25-minute featurette, that sees the actor compare his experience on the show with the MDPD's world, and asking plenty of interesting questions. It's got a slight "educational film" feel, but is definitely entertaining.

The Bottom Line
It's gotten to the point where you know what to expect when each season of "C.S.I.: Miami" rolls around: lots of murders, threats to the lives of the C.S.I.s, the conclusion of some long-running storylines and an accusation against one of the team members. Add in some pretty people and beautiful locales and you've got a recipe for a season's worth of gripping mystery, even if the finale isn't up to the usual level of the series. The DVDs look and sound terrific, and the extras prove to be the next step in the growth of the series's DVD releases. This season isn't the best opportunity for people looking to get into the show, as there's much wrapping up of old storylines, starting right with the first episode. For fans of the show though, it's a great way to catch up or check the show out again.

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*The Reviewer's Bias section is an attempt to help readers use the review to its best effect. By knowing where the reviewer's biases lie on the film's subject matter, one can read the review with the right mindset.